Book Review - The Color of Home

Audrey Needham looks like she is at the top. By all appearances, she will soon be promoted by her boss, who is currently in the spotlight as the Bay Area’s top designer. Audrey just has to get through this big meeting and then two weeks out of office. If only those two weeks were not in Charity Falls, Oregon. If only her great-aunt and uncle didn’t live across the road from the place where Audrey’s dad was taken from her in a fire. If only she didn’t have to face that place every day of her time helping Daisy and Dean, as she helps them prepare to move into their memory care apartment. And to top off the struggles, she is still nestled in the dramatic Cascades when her job disappears on the Bay Area fog, leaving her with a lot of time to weigh her options and embrace the stirrings of her soul. A series of chance encounters with a handsome, but surly, resident of Charity Falls leave Audrey feeling more lost and unsettled. But in a series of moments of clarity, the dark sadness of the past is pulled into the light, where Audrey can find the bright hope of her future.

Painted vividly with all the colors Pantone has to offer, The Color of Home is a tangible testament to the power of immersion. From allowing herself to be fully immersed in her career to the realization that Audrey has drifted from her roots as an artist, the reader is pulled deep into her metamorphosis. In committing to Daisy, Dean, and Charity Falls, the outer trappings are washed away like pigment from a brush to allow the next right thing to be revealed. Kit Tosello has created a cozy community with lovable characters for the reader to fully immerse themselves in and enjoy.

The Color of Home by Kit Tosello is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Between the Sound and Sea

Joy and pain, life and death are found between the sound and sea in the latest release from Amanda Cox. Fed up with her current situation and looking for a break from scandal, Joey Harris goes out on a whim and applies for a position as project manager for the restoration of a decommissioned lighthouse on a barrier island off the North Carolina coast. She is propelled to the top of the list by merit of being the only option left, a fact that does not sit well with the grumpy grandson of her new employer. Walt is determined to right the wrongs of his youth by restoring the former home of his childhood best friend; protecting Cay’s secrets from wagging tongues is his top priority, and he hopes to find out what really happened on that night when lives were lost and others irreparably damaged. The discovery of hidden journal entries begin to fill in blanks left by history and secrecy, but they come with the mysterious antics of the island’s ghost. With history, mystery, and a great deal of gratification, Cox gives us a beautifully rounded story about heartache, heartbreak, and restoration. You will be as invested as Joey in the success of their venture on the island and in the lives of those to whom it matters. 

And that grumpy grandson? Well, he might tug your heartstrings as well.

Between the Sound and Sea by Amanda Cox is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Until Our Time Comes

Nicole M. Miller’s debut novel, Until Our Time Comes, is a beautifully crafted tribute to the resilience and determination of a group of people we do not often consider in reflection upon the trials of World War II. That is because many of us are unaware of the Janów Podlaski stud and other state run farms focused on the preservation of the glorious Arabian horses so prized by Poland, as well as others in various countries throughout the Continent. Miller brings this topic to light with the story of Adia Kensington, the American daughter who carries on the legacy of her Polish mother who toiled to save the magnificent Arabians during World War I. Adia finds herself in the unenviable position of having to protect them again as they face enduring occupation by enemy armies. British intelligence agent Bret Conway is tasked with protecting Adia and the horses while also performing his duties and maintaining his cover as a news reporter. This is, of course, made significantly more challenging when the two realize their stormy relationship carries with it the magnitude of love. As Adia and Bret work together to care for the horses, protecting them from enemies all around, and to advance the Allied efforts to turn the tide of war, they find that their love must endure until the time comes that they can be together at last.

This debut novel reads beautifully, with eloquent descriptions that draw the reader directly into the glorious countryside and the famed Janów Podlaski stables. Miller’s characters are expertly crafted, down to the grandmother resistance fighter and the foal who is rejected by his mother. I was often sent outside the book to search for information on the Arabian horses and the Polish state studs that continue to dedicate themselves to these magnificent creatures. I do sometimes enjoy a good read it through kind of book, but delight in fiction that inspires me to seek out the facts. Until Our Time Comes could easily be the former, and I am thrilled that it gave me the experience of the latter. I am certainly excited to see what comes next for this talented author!

Until Our Time Comes by Nicole M. Miller is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine. 

Book Review - Sandcastle Inn

Irene Hannon brings us back to Hope Harbor in Sandcastle Inn, the tenth book in her series. This installment brings us into the lives of veterinarian Matt Quinn and Vienna Price, a career driven go getter in limbo. In the wake of personal tragedy, Matt finds himself on a working vacation, unprepared for the amount of work it will take to help his sister Kay with her coastal B&B in need of renovation. He desperately needs a contractor and an advisor who is skilled in revamping boutique properties with an image problem. As usual, Hope Harbor delivers in spades, bringing Vienna into his orbit in a way that catches them both off balance.

Sandcastle Inn is a love letter from Hannon to anyone struggling with grief, shame, and family strife. She does not dance around the issues, and though it reads as fiction, she packs a great deal of truth and hope in the storyline. There is no doubt the longtime residents of Hope Harbor we have grown to know and love are patiently guiding forces along the way: Bev, Charley, Father Murphy and Reverend Baker, Floyd and Gladys. Their roles in this book feel like they were written just for this specific storyline, but anyone who has read any of the nine books before will feel the same way about each one. Hannon writes with such familiarity that this is not the first time I have caught myself longing for a vacation to this fictional seaside town, dreaming of a cookie from the jar on the counter at Bev’s Book Nook or tacos and a word of wisdom from Charley. If you are looking for the perfect beach read, your search is over!

Sandcastle Inn by Irene Hannon, the tenth in her Hope Harbor series, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Just for the Summer

There are some authors I trust to deliver exactly what I expect when I pick up their books. For example, let’s say I am seeking a novel with a character who is at a crossroads in life, experiences an unexpected event that offers self exploration and understanding, meets a man who challenges and encourages her, and we have a happy ending. That’s when I pick up Melody Carlson. It is the kind of predicability I can rely on when the real world begs an escape, but don’t think that makes her predictable. The craftsmanship that delivers this comfort while creating completely different novels every time is worthy of great respect. On that note, I offer you my take on her latest, Just for the Summer.

Ginny Masters has worked her way up from the bottom to become manager of a posh boutique hotel in Seattle, but her life is not the glitz and glam it seems on the surface. Jaqueline Potter longs for glitz and glam, but instead manages her grandfather’s Idaho fishing lodge. Seeking a change of pace, both sign up to participate in a job swap. Just for the summer. But with the job swap comes a bit of a life swap. Jaqueline finds that the posh hotel daytime only scratches the surface of reality, and Ginny finds that the simple life just might be the life for her. At a crossroads, each has to make a serious decision about what happens in their lives at the end of the swap. With her trademark skill, Carlson delivers relatable characters and a satisfying storyline that will keep you reading.

Just for the Summer by Melody Carlson is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine. 

Book Review - The Lady with the Dark Hair

Art and family history come together in The Lady with the Dark Hair, an exploration of the her-story of said lady and its impact on a modern day art history major with a passion for a specific painter. Esther Markstrom is a descendant of Francisco Vella, curator of the museum which houses a collection of his paintings, and caretaker of her mentally ill mother. All of these components of her identity also carry the heavy burden of responsibility. The most prized Vella painting does not reside in the museum, however, but in her family home. Never seen by anyone other than Esther and her mother, never questioned beyond her mild curiosity about the identity of The Lady with the Dark Hair, never challenged. Then Esther invites her former professor to visit La Dama del Cabello Oscuro, kicking off a chain of events she could not have predicted for her mundane life. Events that not only shake up everything anyone knows about Francisco Vella, but also everything Esther has ever known about herself.

Told in dual time fashion, The Lady with the Dark Hair delivers the stories of Esther and La Dama. Their own relationships with Vella are brought to light, as history opens itself to explore the struggles and expectations of women in the late 19th century and its parallels with those Esther faces in her own experiences. Characters in both eras leap from the page as the author has painted her story so vividly that its pull is inescapable.

The Lady with the Dark Hair by Erin Bartels is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Irish Matchmaker

An unmatched matchmaker and a farmer who does not want a match create quite the pair as the Lisdoonvarna matchmaking festival turns the Irish town and its residents on their ears. Catriona Daly and her father come from a long line of Irish matchmakers and it seems as though Caty is going to have her hands full making another match for a certain gentleman after the last one made for him did not stick. Caty would not mind being his match, but she also has a job to do. What Caty does not want is to be stuck in Lisdoonvarna for the rest of her life, and certainly not married to a farmer. Donal Bunratty has been married, but raising wee Sara and managing the farm since his wife passed has not left him inspired to seek another partner.

In her new release, Jennifer Deibel drops us right into the heart of the merriment. Her settings are lively and full of character. Her characters draw us in and bring us alongside them in the daily routines of life on the farm and in the town. We are partnered with them as residents and visitors alike search for a partner in life and, possibly, in love. Caty may be the matchmaker, but is she prepared for the match that finds her?

The Irish Matchmaker by Jennifer Deibel is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Embers in the London Sky

The latest release from Sarah Sundin is a gift to this generation of readers, as if the embers of the Second Great Fire of London singed onto the pages an homage to the refugees who flocked to her and those who toiled to care for them. We who are now generations removed from that war only know of the everyday greatness of these people by way of the stories left behind and the works of fiction taken from those stories, wrapped in a tidy bow, and offered up to us by authors who strive to honor them. Sundin takes the plight of the refugee and entwines it with the struggle of news correspondents who must find a way to report on reality without giving information to the enemy or damaging the morale of the citizens. Together those storylines converge to give us Embers in the London Sky.

Sundin is a thoroughly immersive storyteller. In a way that does not beleaguer the storyline, the setting comes alive around the reader. Engaging characters beckon the reader to bond, and it feels as though one is sitting around the table at the Hart and Swan with Aleida, Hugh, Lou, Jouveau, and a host of other corespondents from various countries. It does not take much to become enmeshed in Aleida’s search for her missing son and Hugh’s for his uncle’s murderer, or in the flame of attraction between the two. Embers in the London Sky is a full novel with fully developed players and storylines, but it will be a quick read when you realize you simply cannot walk away until the thoroughly satisfying conclusion.

Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin is available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Double Take

Lynette Eason kicks off her Lake City Heroes series with the tense and twisty Double Take, which released January 9 from Revell. Lainie’s fiancé died the night she had to defend herself against his attempt to murder her. After a year and a half of working through the physical and mental fallout, she’s doing pretty well. At least, she was doing alright until the dead man made another attempt on her life. When James, brother of her good friend and also her secret childhood crush, lands in her hospital for care after getting shot on the job, Lainie has to admit it wouldn’t hurt to have him on her side as someone who looks just like her dead fiancé is targeting her. Together, Lainie and James work to unravel the mysterious stalker’s plan and to help mend the damaged relationships in James’s family. Eason writes all of this with great skill, drawing the reader in for the duration and creating characters you’re sure to respond to strongly, for better or for worse.

Double Take, book 1 of the Lake City Heroes series by Lynette Eason, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Shadows at Dusk

The latest installment in Elizabeth Goddard’s Missing in Alaska series is a frantic flight to find a missing sister and stop a murderer before he kills Carrie James (again.) The bush pilot finds herself thrown into Detective Trevor West’s search for his missing sister, even though he is the last thing she needs. Island hopping in southeast Alaska involves spending too much time with this man who makes her feel things she refuses to ever feel again, and it is hard to avoid opening up to someone when you continually find yourself in vulnerable positions with them. Goddard keeps the reader hopping as well, following the whodunnit of multiple transgressions while dodging danger by the most narrow margins. Also appearing in this sequel are several of our friends from the first installment, Cold Light of Day, who help search for the truth amidst the information Carrie and Trevor give and other evidence that turns up. Shadows at Dusk is sure to keep you enthralled from dusk til dawn.

Shadows at Dusk, Missing in Alaska series book 2, by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - A Royal Christmas

There is a certain antihistamine brand that advertises with the song which proclaims it is the most wonderful time of the year. My husband can attest that this advertisement, regardless of my feelings about the product, chafes my soul like a swimsuit 2 sizes too small. They tease! I’m a fall fan through and through, but that phrase is reserved specifically for Christmas and to use it elsewhere is to deliver false hope. However, there is a silver tinsel light at the end of the tunnel, because fall means the release of the new Melody Carlson Christmas novella. It is the harbinger of Christmas carols to come, the first hopeful glimmer of the season in which I truly come alive! This year’s gift, A Royal Christmas, is a splendid addition to the Carlson Christmas chronicles I so crave. It is like jingling sleigh bells stop in front of my house on the sweltering fall day each year when my Carlson Christmas novella arrives. This one involves law student Adelaide Smith, still mourning the loss of her mother, and whose life is about to be shaken by the news that her father has found her by using a DNA match. And her father is the ailing king of a small Eastern European principality. And also, he hopes to stay alive long enough to meet the daughter he only recently learned he has, hopefully to find in her the heir to rule Montovia.

The relationships woven together through this story are intricate. It’s not your super cozy Christmas novella where someone misinterprets a hug between siblings as competition for romance. Adelaide quickly, but realistically, builds bonds with various members of the royal family and staff members. Some are worth keeping and others are a bit more in the spirit of Krampus than Father Christmas, when nefarious motives come into play. Carlson moves the book forward with a full novel’s character development and storyline in a novella length word count; a skill that left me feeling utterly satisfied and a wee bit bonded with certain characters. And if you know someone who delights in a Christmas novella, allow me to suggest this as a fantastic gift. I will surely reread A Royal Christmas at the height of my Thanksgiving through the new year Christmas novella marathon!

A Royal Christmas by Melody Carlson is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Swindler’s Daughter

Identity is an interesting thing. You can know who you think you are and still be quite uninformed, as Lillian Doyle learns in The Swindler’s Daughter. As the daughter of a widowed Atlanta socialite, Lillian is expected to marry well and secure the future for herself and her mother. However, Lillian finds that her mother had not been widowed by her father all these years; he has been quite alive, at least, he was until recently. Now the sole heiress of her father’s estate, Lillian is sent to secure her inheritance and return to Atlanta to marry a nice enough man, with whom she supposes she will have a nice enough life. But arriving in the small town where her father once lived, Lillian is faced with opportunities she could only dream about under the weight of social expectation, and the choices before her could allow Lillian to be who she chooses to be.

In The Swindler’s Daughter, Stephenia H. McGee writes historical romance with a bit of intrigue. Questions swirl as hopes and futures collide, making messes of people’s plans and opening the door for God’s plan for each of the characters. There are misunderstandings and mischief aplenty, moving the story toward a tidy ending.

The Swindler’s Daughter by Stephenia H. McGee is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Long March Home

A story of friendship and brotherhood that spans several decades, The Long March Home opens in Mobile, Alabama in the early days of childhood for Jimmy, Claire and Billy. With mothers who are very close friends, it is no wonder the three who are so close in age would spend most of their waking hours together. When the group picks up Hank in elementary school, they seem to be complete. Things get a little more difficult as high school comes around; Jimmy notices Claire has become a woman, one who seems to be catching attention from other boys just when he also realizes she’s the only girl for him. His hellfire-and-brimstone preacher father has very specific plans that don’t look anything like what he wants, but Jimmy also knows he will have to choose between his father’s plans and the girl of his dreams. World War II changes the trajectory of his life, along with Hank and Billy, when the three run off to enlist. The long march home for these boys begins as they are complacent with a life of relative leisure in the Philippines and takes them to some very dark and difficult places as their daydreams become a painfully real nightmare.

Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee are both excellent researchers and storytellers, a fact which is quite obvious as you read through the story they have created together. Based on historical records of the troops who were pinned down on the Bataan Peninsula, the characters and events on The Long March Home are exceptionally real and painfully relevant. While crafting an entertaining story, albeit one that will break your heart over and over again, Brotherton and Lee have honored the veterans who gave their lives to fight tyranny. This work of historical fiction is a fitting tribute to their sacrifice. Keep your tissues handy; if this book was any less heartbreaking it wouldn’t be worth reading.

The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.